Docs Pad

Did you know that the first place you could wet your whistle was in a pub? The term originates from special mugs used in English pubs hundreds of years ago. Any time you needed a refill, all you had to do was blow a whistle attached to the mug’s handle to call the pub’s handmaiden over.

The word "pub" comes from a shortening of the phrase "public house," as opposed to a private house. Public houses had to be registered and put out a sign, going back to a proclamation by King Richard II in 1393.

Pubs function as a community level: they're perfect for meeting up with your friends and getting to know your neighbors. Some pubs are considered the focal point of the neighborhoods where patrons come to participate in community activities and to catch up on the local buzz.

People have had public establishments like bars for thousands of years. The Romans had two kinds: Tabernae or thermopolia, usually with an L-shaped counter for richer citizens, and popinae for the common man, which usually had gambling attached to them.